Aggies playing some football, too, amid SEC chatter

COLLEGE STATION – Believe it or not, there’s football going on ’round Kyle Field and thereabouts. The Aggies scrimmaged for the first time this season on Monday, and quarterback Ryan Tannehill liked the results.
“It was the first time to compete at full speed, tackle, everything like that,” Tannehill said. “It was a great start and a good building point for the team to go back and look at the tape, correct the things that it needs to and improve.”
The lone bad news for A&M came defensive end Jonathan Mathis “banged his head” as coach Mike Sherman put it and suffered a concussion.
“He’ll be back eventually, but we don’t take those lightly,” Sherman said.
Sherman repeated what he’s said all week, too, about the growing Aggies-to-the-SEC chatter.
“If you don’t talk about the SEC, it’s not a distraction,” he said. “This team is in the Big 12, with a lot of tough opponents, and we start with SMU at home on a Sunday night. These kids are focused on the present. We have no worries about things this team doesn’t control. No time is spent talking about what-ifs.”
Sherman did spend a little time talking about his defense under second-year coordinator Tim DeRuyter.
“The defense is definitely further along right now than it was at this time last year,” Sherman said. “It was a very new system and there are some nuances now that weren’t present last year, as well. We’re still replacing some pretty spectacular players, so it’s about working through some of those issues and finding the right fit.
“But from a scheme standpoint, it’s further ahead and the kids understand things a lot better.”
Counting Tuesday’s two practices, the Aggies have 13 practices remaining of camp. They open their season on the Sunday night of Labor Day weekend at home against SMU. The game will be on Fox Sports Net.
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